Tuesday, 14 October 2014

A slightly odd one to return with. Many expected HTC's 'something a little different' was an entry into the wearables market with a smartwatch, so it surprised a few when HTC came out with the launch of 'RE', a new portable camera.

Seemingly designed via a combination of the Men in Black memory eraser, an inhaler and ..., HTC's RE Camera has been touted as a Go-Pro challenger - but one to be used by the 'no-pros'. Catchy, right..? But where does it fit against it's competition? Go-Pro are a formidable opposition; with the brand image, aspiration factor and user-base already nailed down. So HTC are quite wise to be openly stating that they are not trying to compete with that market. An HTC exec quite happily shared that if he was going down white water rapids, then he would use a Go-Pro instead.

This then begs the question: is there actually a market for these cameras amongst the everyday population?

And I'm not so sure. I'd argue that people will be thinking 'why buy something like that to achieve the same as my phone'... Fair point. The HTC RE camera doesn't do selfies any better.

So who would actually want this? It sits very comfortably in the 'nice to have' category, and at the $200 price point, that's a problem. It's a significant amount of money for something that hasn't got a particular USP - and looks a little silly to be honest.

Perhaps the live-streaming option (when launched) will make a difference. Still, I'm not sure that's enough of a draw, especially when our phones can do the same thing.

When HTC promised something a little different, they delivered. But that's the problem. It's only a little different. That's just not enough.

Also - don't even get me started on the name...

Thoughts? Agree or disagree? I'd love to hear in the comments below - or get in touch via Twitter: @tomkelk